Personality Characteristics of Gifted Israeli Children

Two groups of Israeli boys and girls in Grades 4-8, one intellectually gifted with a mean WISC IQ of (N = 182) and one nongifted (N = 310), were compared on several indices of personal-social adjustment. As predicted, the gifted group showed more positive self-concept, more internal locus of control, a lower level of general anxiety, and a still lower level of test anxiety. The few results on self-concept, unfavorable to the older gifted children, were attributed to a shift in the attitudes of gifted and nongifted children toward each other as they enter adolescence and their abilities and interest patterns diverge. Gifted girls were as well adjusted as gifted boys and better adjusted than nongifted girls.